All of us have spend hours thinking about if this fish will work with that type and if I can add this species to my tank will they get eaten. This page is dedicated to hopefully making those choices a bit easier. Please use the FORM below to submit your tank.

Still keep one thing in mind, these are all generalizations. Any fish, on any given day, might or might not get along with another. Some are predictable but there still can be personallity problems between groups.

Community aquariums house between three and thirty non-aggressive fish in a tank that ranges from 20 to 50 gallons and up. Most of these fish will eat flake or pelleted food and thrive in water with “middle-of-the-road” pH, hardness, and temperature values.

A species tank is an aquarium that contains one species of fish, in which the tank is tailored to meet the demands of a specific fish for its maximum benefit. Now there may be other species in the tank like the Pleco, the Otocinclus, or some other type of scavenger to help maintain the tank, but they are not commonly the main focus of the tank, though I have seen tanks dedicated to catfish species that looked quite stunning.

A geographic tank is created by selecting fish from a certain geographical area or biotope. Aquarium often try to re-create the waterscape and species from an African lake, Southeast Asia or South America. These are plenty of locations where a lot of the commonly kept aquarium species originate. The idea is to display species and plants from one specific area.

Compatibility:Key Points, Tips & Tricks

If a fish has a big enough mouth pointing forward to fit another fish in, it probably will.

Some fish just don't get along with any one. There are loners.

Look it up, Look it up, I cannot stress enough, any combination you can think of has been tried before, research before adding new fish.

Predatory fish are just that, they eat anything that moves.

Any time you add fish to an aquarium, their compatibility depends on a lot of factors. Water quality, reproductive behavior, tank size and number of inhabitants will influence the behavior and health of any aquarium community.

One note, when adding new fish to an already established aquarium. Be very careful. I would guess nearly 20-40% of all fish in pet stores have some type of disease. I recommend before adding new fish, create a hospital tank and clean the fish for a few months before adding.

To much fish in a small space = diaster, disease, basically the worse parts of the bible. They will die and it will be impossible to keep the water clean.

Nice rule of thumb - One inch of fish (excluding the tail, yes we have had questions) per gallon of water

Know a good aquarium fish compatiblity source? Send it here, Ask An Expert

DOES THIS FISH WORK WITH THAT? COMMENTS?

Many popular freshwater and saltwater aquarium fish have a natural tendency to school. In the wild, many of the danios, barbs, tetras, tangs and wrasses are found in groups of dozens, hundreds or even thousands. Attempting to keep one or "a pair" of one of these species is not only unnatural, but may cause compatibility problems as well. (Thanks Jim) 5/14/2004